STUFF.
Brussels, Belgium
Wednesday 15 Apr 2015
Festival City
A decade of playing together has gone into the development of this trio’s austere and beautiful sound, and now the rewards are coming, with their third studio album released earlier this year on the prestigious ECM label. Rrugra has invited critical comparison with the best work of the trios of Tord Gustafson and Bubo Stemson, and those Nordic influences are apparent in the deep feeling for rubato that exists between Vallon, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer. If anything, the consideration of colour and mood goes even deeper, with the patient development of themes and motifs offered generously between these three refined musicians alert to all the possibilities to manipulate time and texture. For all its restraint, this is music making with a strongly visual signature, full of naturalism and impressions of the elements, mature and satisfying.
